Data Security Resolution: Bring 3-2-1 into 2024

When I talk to IT pros at trade shows across the country, too often I hear that the best-practices of data protection are being ignored. “There’s no time for all that,” they say. “I know I should, but…”  

The new year is a time to make commitments to positive change and to finally do what you meant to do last year. If you’ve been putting off your data protection plan, there’s no better time to start than right now.  

3-2-1 and done 

The agreed-upon standard in data protection is the 3-2-1 rule.  

3 – keep three total copies of your data 

2 – keep your data on at least two different storage media. This is to avoid losing multiple copies should a single device fail 

1 – keep one copy offsite as a failsafe   

That’s all there is to it! It's worth noting that there is more than one way to abide by the 3-2-1 rule. It’s designed to be flexible, so make it work for you. Here are some examples:  

• One copy on magnetic tape, one copy on HDD, one copy in the cloud ✓ 

• One copy on local data center, one copy on RAID 6, one copy on a portable hard drive kept in a secure location offsite ✓ 

• One copy on CD, one copy on NAS, one copy on a remote server ✓ 

The importance of hybrid cloud 

It’s clear that hybrid cloud is here to stay, and the flexibility of the 3-2-1 rule is ideal for organizations implementing a hybrid cloud storage strategy. On-premises and cloud storage working in concert provide ample opportunities to construct your 3-2-1 setup, and, with the right solution, the power and visibility to do it all from a single pane of glass. Plus, the cloud brings additional layers of security to the table when you factor in optional object immutability to make your offsite copy completely untouchable (In fact, immutability is often added to the end of the traditional 3-2-1 rule, making it the 3-2-1-1-0 rule).